AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 5 – War Diary CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 55 of 332 the Indian Army fielded in Bangladesh. It had the unique distinction of spearheading the advance of almost every formation engaged, with 5 of its sabre squadrons in action as against a regiment’s normal complement of 3. Besides an additional squadron the regiment had always had operating independently, a fifth one was put together ad hoc on the eve of the war. Thus, the army’s 4-pronged thrust into Bangladesh from southwest, northwest, northeast and southeast saw one squadron or more of 63 Cavalry fighting in every one of these sectors. Elements of this particular Indian unit appearing everywhere so confounded Pakistanis that they gave it the epithet ‘The Ghost Regiment’. The Armoured Corps, which is traditionally considered the army’s mailed fist, had deployed two more of its regiments, 45 Cavalry and 69 Armoured Regiment, and an independent squadron of the 7 th Light Cavalry in Bangladesh. Besides the benefit of additional squadrons, 63 Cavalry enjoyed an edge in combat potential over these units by virtue of its 3 regular squadrons being equipped with T-55 medium tanks which were superior in armour and firepower to PT- 76 light tanks all the others had. Its independent and ad hoc squadrons had to do with PT-76 light tanks and Ferret armoured scout cars respectively. PT-76 tanks of its 5 Independent Armoured Squadron that moved in from Agarthala in the southeast with 57 Mountain Division and fought a furious engagement at Akhaura were, subsequently, the first elements of Indian armour to roll into Dacca. The Ferret scout cars, which the squadron had been using for years for counter-insurgency operations in Mizoram and Nagaland, now taking on a regular operational role with the ad hoc squadron, were inherently handicapped for lacking cannon, with only machine gun for its armament. However, in a clever ploy, bamboos were fixed to the front of their turrets that appeared to be main guns when viewed from distance. The ruse worked and, launched in support of infantry from Meghalaya in the northeast, the intimidating presence of these ‘tanks’ often prompted the enemy to give up their positions without a fight. While these two squadrons were battling their way across from east, the regiment main with two squadrons smashed forward from northwest with 20 Mountain Division, overrunning a series of enemy strongholds at Hilli, Phulbari, Charkoi, Baduria and many others, en route to Bogra, their main objective. The fact that the gritty battle of Hilli was won because of a brilliant outflanking manoeuvre by this regimental group has always been overshadowed by the heavy casualties suffered by the infantry in a preemptive attack. Meanwhile the third regular squadron of the regiment advanced from southwest under 9 Infantry Division to capture Jessore early in the war before fighting its way to